Gardner steps down as Atari CEO

Atari has confirmed that high-profile CEO David Gardner has left the post, with his boots being filled by former COO Jeff Lapin.

Gardner remains at the publisher as a member of its board of directors. Lapin becomes Atari's fourth CEO in just three years.

For the last two years, first as a director of the board and then as COO, I have contributed to the transformation of Atari,” Lapin stated.

It has been a challenging time, which resulted in a new publishing strategy with a strong online focus and a shift of the operations to the US. We will launch our second MMO – Star Trek Online – in February 2010.

I am excited to take on these new responsibilities at this important time and look forward to developing Atari's strategy to bring the company back to profitability.”